Do Not Be Silent, LORD God

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Do not be silent, LORD God

Versifier: Calvin Seerveld (1985)
Tune: NUN LOB, MEIN SEEL
Published in 1 hymnal

Printable scores: PDF, MusicXML
Audio files: MIDI

Piano/Organ
	All Glory Be to God on High: Seven Gener…

Representative text cannot be shown for this hymn due to copyright.

Versifier: Calvin Seerveld

Calvin Seerveld (b. 1930) was professor of aesthetics at the Institute for Christian Studies in Toronto from 1972 until he retired in 1995. Educated at Calvin College, Grand Rapids, Michigan; the University of Michigan; and the Free University of Amsterdam (Ph.D.), he also studied at Basel University in Switzerland, the University of Rome, and the University of Heidelberg. Seerveld began his career by teaching at Bellhaven College in Jackson, Mississippi (1958-1959), and at Trinity Christian College in Palos Heights, Illinois (1959-1972). A fine Christian scholar, fluent in various biblical and modern languages, he is published widely in aesthetics, biblical studies, and philosophy. His books include Take Hold of God and Pull (1966), The Gr… Go to person page >

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First Line:	Do not be silent, LORD God
Title:	Do Not Be Silent, LORD God
Versifier:	Calvin Seerveld (1985)
Meter:	Irregular
Language:	English
Copyright:	© Calvin Seerveld

Psalm 109
(hymns)

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Notes

A plea asking God, the heavenly Judge, to deliver the psalmist from false accusers and to deal judicially with them.

Scripture References:
st. 1 = vv. 1-5, 15
st. 2 = vv. 6-19
st. 3 = vv. 20-31

Often singled out as the most harsh of the so-called "imprecatory" psalms, Psalm 109 does not so much curse the psalmist's enemies as plead for appropriate judgment on them (what they intended to do to the psalmist can be learned from what he asks God to do to them). The psalmist is deeply aggrieved because his attackers are people he has long befriended (st. 1). He appeals to God to deal out appropriate judicial penalties (st. 2) and pleads for deliverance from his vicious tormentors, concluding with a vow to publicly thank and praise the LORD, who protects the meek and needy (vv. 30-31; st. 3). Calvin Seerveld (PHH 22) versified this psalm in 1985 for the Psalter Hymnal.

Liturgical Use:
Appropriate when the church is under attack, especially in the form of slander intend¬ed to arouse hostility; Calvin Seerveld suggests singing this psalm "whenever atrocities and institutionalized evil in the world or land preoccupy people in their prayerful concern."

--Psalter Hymnal Handbook

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Tune

NUN LOB, MEIN SEEL

Johann (Hans) Kugelmann (b. Augsburg, Germany, c. 1495; d. Konigsberg, Germany, 1542) adapted NUN LOB, MEIN SEEL from the song “Weiss mir ein Blümlein blaue” and first published the tune in his Concentus Novi (1540). A bar form, this German chorale consists of six long lines sharing some simila…

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